About this project
Help "THE SELLING" get a Theatrical Release
$26,422
625
SIMON HELBERG & JOCELYN TOWNE SELL THE SELLING
A MESSAGE FROM BARRY BOSTWICK
We are raising funds for a limited theatrical release and distribution expenses for our completely finished feature film "The Selling."
That's right. We made a movie! It's done! Finished! Coming out on Digital/VOD platforms on August 21 and DVD on October 23rd!
You may not have heard of it but THE SELLING has played at over twenty-five film festivals, garnered tons of awards, and gotten rave reviews from various websites and blogs including The Huffington Post, Fangoria, Ain't It Cool News, and Filmmaker Magazine.
But the most meaningful responses we've gotten have been from audience members who tell us things like "This is the funniest movie I've ever seen," "I wish Hollywood made movies like this," and "This movie should be in theaters."
Unfortunately, unless your movie has big name movie stars it's next to impossible to get a theatrical release because (let's face it) most people are more likely to see [Insert Movie Star Name Here] in a bad movie than to take a chance on an independent movie with actors they don't know.
Most people. Not YOU.
That's why we're asking you to help us get our little six year old brain child out of the house and into the world.
What is THE SELLING?
THE SELLING is a supernatural comedy about a real estate agent trying to sell a haunted house. It gives a fresh take on the classic "scare comedies" of Abbott and Costello and Don Knotts' THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN with subtle references to modern horror classics such as THE EXORCIST, THE HAUNTING, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, and (of course) THE SHINING. It has been compared favorably to such comedy greats as GHOSTBUSTERS and SHAUN OF THE DEAD...by people other than our family members.
It stars Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine (ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN [ROBOTIC EDITION])...
Janet Varney (THE LEGEND OF KORRA, JV CLUB PODCAST)...
Jonathan Klein (HOTEL FOR DOGS)...
Nancy Lenehan (WORST WEEK, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN)...
...and Barry Bostwick (THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, SPIN CITY).
It also features appearances by Simon Helberg (THE BIG BANG THEORY)...
Harry Groener (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)...
...and Jocelyn Towne (I AM I).
The film's Director, Producer and Executive Producer is Emily Lou.
The Director of Photography is Matthias Schubert.
Everyone who worked on the movie is awesome. You can check out the whole cast and crew list here. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1552214/
What are these "distribution expenses" you speak of?
Making movies is expensive. And we made one! Yay! However that is barely even the beginning. Every good thing that happens after the movie is done from festivals, to foreign sales, to VOD sales to DVD sales actually costs a ton more money. The movie has to bear all the up front costs of all the technology these companies need to sell the movie, and the money they get from selling the movie first goes to all of their costs, which are significant. The more good things happen the more money we have to pay, and the movie is the last entity in a very long line to get any of the money that comes in.
What are you going to do with the money?
Great question. The money we are raising will be used to pay for a series of screenings and defray the costs of physical delivery of the film to distributors and VOD platforms. Specifically:
* Theater rentals in Chico, San Francisco, Virginia, and Los Angeles
* Costs of making Digibeta copies of the film with Closed Caption files embedded on them for VOD platforms
* Purchasing DVDs from our distributor to sell on our website and for incentives
* Capturing iphone, laptop, and HD TV sized digital versions of the film from our masters for sale on our website and for incentives
* Website refresh to create an online store, integrate new key art, and buttons to take website visitors to other platforms that carry the film
* Printing posters
* Shipping/delivery cost of incentives
What about these Tickets?
You can purchase tickets here on Kickstarter to our limited theatrical premier. If you want more than one ticket multiply $10 by the number of tickets and pay that. Then when you select your incentive choose the ticket for the location you want. We'll know that if you pledged $20 you want two tickets and so on...
If you want to add a ticket or multiple tickets to another incentive simply add $10 per ticket and then send us a message about it. You can do it through the kickstarter message system or through info@DianiAndDevine.com.
Because Kickstarter allows you to change your pledge while the campaign is running you can always add tickets later if your city pops up. We'll let you know when that happens.
So far we're showing in Chico, CA at The Pageant Theatre on August 25 around 8:30, in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theater October 22nd, the Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco on October 20, and somewhere in Virginia and Wichita (we'll add these incentives when the dates and places are finalized). We're going to have little after parties in bars or restaurants after all these screenings. If you're a backer at any level we'd love you to come!
What are your other incentives?
- We're offering the DVD of the movie, digital downloads in phone, laptop and huge fancy TV sizes. Beware for those outside of the US or Canada: the DVD will be Region 1.
- We're also giving everybody a special Kickstarter Exclusive Commentary Track you can listen to over the movie. Yes, it's for everybody! Even people who aren't getting the movie.
- You can get the super cute Grumpy Owl's t-Shirt by http://Deadworry.etsy.com that Gabriel Diani's character Richard Scarry wears in the film. A Grumpy Family of Owls hand screened on American Apparel Fine Cotton Jersey T-Shirt - 100% combed cotton. Color: Chocolate Brown Sizes: SM, MD, LG, XL, 2XL We'll send you a survey to get your size.
- You can get this super awesome picture of Barry Bostwick as Commander Ace Hunter in the 1982 action masterpiece MEGAFORCE signed by Barry himself!
- You can get a sterling silver and Swarovski Crystal bleeding wall necklace from http://Underoakstudios.etsy.com. The necklace measures 19 inches and the crystal is 5/8 of an inch tall and about the size of a ladies thumb nail. Who doesn't want a crystal the color of dried blood hanging around their neck?
- You can get a movie poster signed by Gabriel Diani, Janet Varney, Jonathan Klein, and Etta Devine.
- You can get a tea party at the La Brea Tar Pits.
- A private screening kit so you can share the movie and all this swag with 10 of your nearest and dearest.
- A live Diani and Devine 20 minute sketch show within a 2 hour drive of Los Angeles.
- You can get an Associate Producer Credit on IMDB!
- Private Ranch Tour and Tasting! A tour of Director Emily Lou's family farm in Yuba City (about a two hour drive from the San Francisco bay area, travel not included) where they have been growing prunes and walnuts since 1869. You and up to 3 friends will start your day with Emily and her Father touring over 3000 acres of orchards followed by a tour of their packaging fascility where they get their prunes and walnuts ready to be shipped all over the world. For lunch, you'll have local Indian cuisine. Each guest will bring home: 1 dozen of Emily's special hand dipped organic chocolate covered prunes, 3 canisters of prunes and a 10 pound box of Walnuts.
- Private Rock Show! The band Chief Enablers featured in THE SELLING will perform for you and your friends at your next party or event in Bay Area.
- You can get a 5 minute industrial film produced and directed by Emily Lou!
- You can get 20 pages of material written by Diani and Devine with two rewrites! You can check out some of their web series work here.
One of the coolest things about doing our last kickstarter "Replacing the "N-word" with "Robot" in Huck Finn by Diani&Devine" was meeting our backers.
They were, without exception, some of the neatest and nicest people on the planet. We'd love to meet you too! We realize the screenings are very California centric but traveling costs money! We'll let you know if we add any more screenings.
What festivals did The Selling play at?
San Francisco International Film Festival
Santa Catalina Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival
Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival
Arizona Underground Film Festival
Friars Club Comedy Film Festival
Heartland Film Festival
Tall Grass Film Festival
Bleedfest
San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival
Prescott Film Festival
Drunken Zombie Film Festival
Abertoir Horror Festival of Wales
L. A. Comedy Film Festival
Buried Alive Film Festival
Irvine International Film Festival
Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema
Spokane International Film Festival
Faux Film Festival
Oakland International Film Festival
Lewiston Auburn Film Festival
Riverside International Film Festival
Hollywood Fringe Festival
Litchfield Hills Film Festival, Connecticut
Fright Night Film Fest- Louisville KY
Northwest Ohio Independent Film Festival
Woods Hole Film Festival
What awards did THE SELLING get?
L.A. Comedy Film Festival: Best Feature, Best Ensemble, Best Director, Best Screenwriting & Best Actor (Gabriel Diani)
Tall Grass Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Feature
The Friars Club Comedy Film Festival: Audience Award for Best US Narrative Feature and Jury Awards for Best US Narrative Feature
Arizona Underground Film Festival: Best Director
Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema: Best Actor, Best Feature, Best Director
Irvine International Film Festival: Best First Time Director
2012 Amsterdam Film Festival Van Gogh Award: Excellence in Cinematography, Matthias Schubert
Faux Film Festival (Won "Best of Faux" Audience Award)
Riverside International Film Festival: "Best of the Fest"
Tell me about your video.
With pleasure! In case you're wondering HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is in the public domain and is on television at one point in the movie. The multi talented Dan Jenkins did our green screen work and shot the video with the indispensable help of Cindy Marie Jenkins. The genius editor of THE SELLING, Chad Meserve, cut the video. Cricket S Meyers is a wonderful person who let us use her sound equipment. Then there is Hal Lublin who filled in the words Vincent Price was too dead to say. Isn't he pretty.
How else can I help?
Kickstarter projects succeed when people know about them. You can really help by just sharing this page on the social media venues of your choice. You can also follow THE SELLING on Twitter http://twitter.com/theselling and like it on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheSelling Thank you so much!
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ